Low-Carb Butternut Squash Soup

Serving size: 5-6 bowls
Cooking time: 1-1.5 hours

So this Cleveland weather is already bad and it's only November. You know that feeling when you walk outside and it literally burns your face or any part of skin that exposed? That's a feeling that only a warm blanket, a cozy fire, and some hot soup can fix. I've never made butternut squash soup, this recipe is my first crack at it.  It turned out so good.  I looked at a recipe I found on the Atkins diet website and based my soup recipe off of that. 

Just a little warning- the squash is really hard to peel.  I suggest using a hand held peeler other than an simple apple peeler.  All I had at my house was a flimsy peeler and it took me a very long time to get the thick skin off of the squash. Also, for dicing, after peeling your squash I would recommend cutting it in half hamburger style, aka separate the body from the neck. Then, slice the neck part of the squash into circles and dice from there. Cut the body of the squash in half, this will expose the seeds and make it easy for you to scoop everything out.  After you get rid of the seeds it's easy to chop it right up.

When you are roasting the squash in the oven be sure to check on it every 5 minutes to make sure it's not burning. You will have to flip them over a the halfway point to ensure they are cooking all the way through. 

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash; skinned & diced into 1" cubes 
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil- keep tablespoon separate
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup of sliced onion
1/4 teaspoon of ginger
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon 
1/8 teaspoon of allspice 
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pinch of parsley 
1 pinch of cheese [feta, parm, or goat]

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Skin and dice squash into 1 and 1/2 inch cubes. 
2. Toss the squash in a ziplock bag with a little salt and one tablespoon of the extra virgin olive oil. Then place on baking sheet and let roast in the oven for about 15 minutes. [I like to put a layer of lightly greased parchment paper or tinfoil on top of the baking sheet to avoid more cleanup time when finished using.] Be sure to flip the squash over after the first 7 minutes. 
3. Peel and slice onion, toss onion in the other tablespoon of olive oil, add the the roasting squash and continue to roast the mixture for another 20 minutes. 
4. In a large skillet, combine all of the spices and tomato paste. Spread out the tomato paste on the lining of the skillet and turn the heat on low-medium. Quickly add the chicken broth,  roasted onions, and squash. Add in the garlic clove. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes. 
5. After the mixture has boiled, add the heavy cream and turn off the flame.
6. Pour the contents of the skillet into a blender or immersion blender. This will puree the soup and give it that thick soupy texture. 
7. Pour your soup into individual bowls and serve hot. You can add a scoop of greek yogurt, some feta or parm cheese, and parsley to the top when you are done! Don't forget the salt and pepper too. 

Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash!

Cooking time: 1.5 hours
Serving size: about 5-6 people

This has to be one of the coolest things I've ever made.  I usually enjoy spaghetti squash with just some butter or marinara on top + some veggies but this recipe is a game changer.  It's basically the same idea as a twice baked potato.  Once you cook the squash you mix up the insides with whatever your favorite sauce is, stuff it all back in, cover with cheese, and broil! It's pretty simple, the skin of the squash acts as a bowl and holds the saucy noodles + melted cheese.

Be sure to be careful and keep a close eye on your "noodle bowls" as they are under the broiler because broiling things tends to increase the chances that you could burn your food.  If you take your attention off of the squash for even two minutes you might come back to notice that your cheese topping has turned completely dark brown or black!  It's alright if it does happen though, it actually happened to me on my first try today!  I just scraped the burnt cheese off the top and started over with a fresh layer of cheese. Probably best to set your broiler to "low" and place your squash halves on the lower rack of the oven.

Even though the spaghetti squash might seem small, it packs a lot, seriously, a lot of "spaghetti" inside.  I made one spaghetti squash (two halves) for my family and there is plenty leftover. 

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1/2 cup of your favorite sauce [if you are doing two sauces you should use 1/4 cup of each sauce per half squash]
1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese 
Salt and pepper to taste 
1-2 pinches of parsley 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Poke a few tiny slits in the spaghetti squash so that it can vent while cooking in the oven.  It will need to cook for 45-60 minutes depending on wether or not the squash is large or small. The sizes vary. 
3. Once the spaghetti squash is done baking you might want to let it cool for a few minutes. Slice it in half longways so that you have two long oval halves. 
4. Carefully scrape out all of the seeds and gooey pumpkin-looking insides. Be sure to leave the thicker outline of the squash because once you scrape at that with a fork you will see the noodles start to appear. 

5. Once your squash is full of noodles you can mix in your sauce and stir it around.  Cover the top with cheese and any seasonings you might want. [I used granulated garlic + salt and pepper for both halves.]
6. Turn on the broiler. Sprinkle the cheese topping with some parsley and place the halves of the spaghetti squash inside and watch carefully until the cheese on the top is completely melted and starts to bubble.  This step will probably take 10 minutes, it should look exactly like the top of a pizza by the time it's done.  
7. Let cool and eat up!  I like to eat it with a fork right out of the squash but you can slice it up if you are sharing :). 

Low-Carb Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Cauliflower pizza crust before baking. 

Serving size: makes one medium pizza 
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

This pizza is amazing. I really don't think I will be going back to making regular pizza dough any time soon after trying this + learning of it's healthier nutritional value. Anyone who likes cauliflower with a little bit of butter and salt would love this recipe! I got the idea for this recipe from Google because the first thing I do when I'm curious about something is Google it. 

When you make the cauliflower crust, you must be sure that you microwave and heat the shredded cauliflower enough so that there is no water at the bottom of the bowl. When the cauliflower is too moist, it is harder to stick together and to spread out across the cookie sheet. The good thing about this dough vs. traditional dough is that it can be easily molded without having it scrunch up on you.  I ran a spoon around the outside of the pizza crust dough and shaped it up very nicely. 

So I made two pizzas, because I wanted to try one with white sauce and one with traditional tomato sauce. First, I ended up making a tomato sauce pizza topped with pepperonis, sharp cheddar, and mozzarella cheese. This one turned out to taste so much like a regular thin crust pizza! The only difference is that since the cauliflower crust contains a lot of cheese, it is a little bit more flimsy than traditional pizza crust dough, and it's hard to transport the entire pizza without it tearing.

Pepperoni, sharp cheddar, and mozzarella. 

The white sauce (alfredo sauce) pizza was topped with mozzarella, sweet potato, mushrooms, finely chopped pancetta, crumbled feta cheese, and I also put a swirl of balsamic glaze over the entire thing.  I would suggest steaming most vegetables that you are going to top with to ensure that they will be cooked all the way. It would suck to have your pizza done with veggies on top that aren't fully cooked. 

White pizza + toppings & balsamic glaze. 

The first pizza I made was obviously delicious because it was so traditional, but the second was so fun to put together. All of the different tastes going on in one bite made the second pizza really unique and flavorful.  Honestly, both were great and everyone needs to be eating more cauliflower pizza crust! 

One more tip would be to make sure you cook your pizza long enough.  I usually am not a fan of crispy edges but it's necessary with this cauliflower crust. Like I mentioned earlier, it contains a lot of cheese which makes it more flimsy, especially in the center.  You want to make sure that you cook the center of the pizza al the way through because that part takes the longest! I suggest taking it out right when the top of the cheese starts to bubble and turn golden. 

Ingredients: 
-Toppings of choice
-1/2 cup of tomato sauce [or white pizza sauce]
-2 1/2 cups of shredded cauliflower
-1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
-2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
-1 egg
-1 teaspoon salt 
-1 teaspoon pepper

Cooking Instructions: 
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and grease it [I just used PAM, but you could use butter]. 
2. Shred the cauliflower into a large bowl, then microwave the cauliflower for 4-5 minutes, until warm and soft. Let cool. Make sure to take out any large chunks that may have fallen into the bowl. Also make sure to drain any water that has accumulated at the bottom of the bowl.  
3. After the cauliflower has cooled add in the parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, salt & 
pepper, and egg. Stir until thoroughly mixed. 
4. Scoop the mixture in the bowl up into your hands and shape it into a ball. Then set it in the center of the parchment paper and spread out as you would with regular pizza dough. Make sure it is evenly spread out on the parchment paper.
5. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until a golden color. [When you notice the edges starting to turn a little brown you are ready to take out of the oven!]
6. Spread your pizza sauce onto the crust however you would like. Add your cheese and toppings. 
7. Place pizza back in oven, and cook for about 15-20 minutes. The pizza should be done when the edges of the dough start to turn a golden brown. 

Before baking with toppings.

After baking with toppings.